


From Every Point of View

by Brigdh



Category: Swordspoint - Kushner
Genre: Character Study, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-28
Updated: 2009-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-05 09:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brigdh/pseuds/Brigdh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Relational Aesthetics: "aesthetic theory consisting in judging artwork on the basis of inter-human relations which they represent, produce or prompt."</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Every Point of View

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Written for the 31_days's prompt, "relational aesthetics", but unfortunately finished too late to post there.  
> Disclaimer: All characters and places created by Ellen Kushner.

1.  
"I said that you are stupid and cheat badly, but apparently you didn't understand me." Alec lifted an eyebrow. "Appropriate, don't you think?"

The gambler stood in anger, jostling the table so the dice rolled, dancing on their bone-yellow, rounded edges. His stack of coins slipped into a scatter of brass and tin, the metal gleaming under surface dirt. "I guess they let you blame others when you lose on the Hill. Take those allowances here, and you might die."

Looking up, Alec broke into low laughter. The humor never reached his eyes, flat as a cat's. "You're an idiot."

 

2.  
No one would buy the shirt, except perhaps for fuel. She could have mended the hole over the chest, but blood had ruined the heavy, once-expensive cloth.

She tried to touch him gently, though there was nothing living left in his face. The difference between what a person showed and what there was inside could be bigger than the city. He hadn't looked foolish or eager to fight.

Death was quick in winter. As she worked, the snow turned his skin to finest silk, slick and cool and not at all alive, and he was soon blue-grey as the sky.

 

3.  
Richard untied the ribbon holding Alec's hair, but Alec pulled away. "I like it down."

Alec sat up to retie it, light reflecting faintly in a line from his shoulder to elbow, and low on his waist. The hair made a dark mass, soft against the long, pale lines of his back, until he lifted his arms to gather it, his spine and muscles shifting beneath the skin.

"You're frustrating," Richard said.

Alec smiled sharply over his shoulder. "I know. I wouldn't want anyone to be nice to me."

A loose strand brushed Richard's wrist as he pulled Alec down.


End file.
